Dear TSB - Flight Recorders are way too expensive

[Zaibatsu]

Maybe the TSB and Transport Canada need to come together and do a risk analysis of the dangers of aircraft flying around with no CVR or FDR, vs flying around with a non certified one which could help with the investigation.

The TSB has used on-board Go Pros to come up with analyses. For GA it would likely be more than enough to determine whether it was fuel starvation, VFR into IMC, poor control of the aircraft, or any of the dozen of causes of light aircraft crashes.

[pelmet]

Maybe the TSB and Transport Canada need to come together and do a risk analysis of the dangers of aircraft flying around with no CVR or FDR, vs flying around with a non certified one which could help with the investigation.

The TSB has used on-board Go Pros to come up with analyses. For GA it would likely be more than enough to determine whether it was fuel starvation, VFR into IMC, poor control of the aircraft, or any of the dozen of causes of light aircraft crashes.

Cameras can be very useful. But I can see the government(egged on by the TSB) wanting something that pilots can't forget to turn on or intentionally not turn on.

After a few investigations with no camera info provided(that we all had to purchase and mount with appropriate expensive STC's for each aircraft) we would be told that something better is required.

[JasonE]

I don't believe flight records should be a necessary burden for GA (as well as ADSB). However I do agree with PilotDAR about pilot proficiency. The more you fly and prepare yourself for an emergency, the more likely you will have a favorable outcome. Most GA pilots likely can't even remember the last time they practiced a forced approach I bet.

[photofly]

The TSB has used on-board Go Pros to come up with analyses. For GA it would likely be more than enough to determine whether it was fuel starvation, VFR into IMC, poor control of the aircraft, or any of the dozen of causes of light aircraft crashes.

I’m sorry but who the hell cares which of these is the cause of the crash. We have quite enough rules and training to prevent any and all of them; if you’re still determined to die by running the tanks dry in an unfriendly spot then no amount of camera equipment or remote monitoring is going to do anything to help either you, or us. If you can’t fly in IMC the video of you not being able to fly in IMC will be of no interest to anyone. Dull and boring.

Now if there was a remote chance of GA fatalities being caused by invaders from Planet Zarg grabbing the controls, and those Zargoids take the time to stick up two fingers to the camera before making the plane enter a steep and terminal dive, then there would be something worth seeing after the crash. As far as I know that doesn’t happen.

[pelmet]

Folks, it is not just the Canadian TSB that is coming up ridiculous, spare no cost ideas that leads us down the road of grounding due to expense.

The NTSB in the US recently did the same thing in response to the Air Canada incident in San Francisco. Now they want ALL aircraft using busy(class B and class C airspace) airports to have aircraft installed systems that advise the pilot when they are going to land on the wrong surface. How expensive is that after the expense of having to install ADS-B.

Here are the two recommendations....

"Establish a requirement for airplanes landing at primary airports within Class B and Class C airspace to be equipped with a system that alerts pilots when an airplane is not aligned with a runway surface. (A-18-25)

"Collaborate with aircraft and avionics manufacturers and software developers to develop the technology for a cockpit system that provides an alert to pilots when an airplane is not aligned with the intended runway surface, and, once such technology is available, establish a requirement for the technology to be installed on airplanes landing at primary airports within Class B and Class C airspace. (A-18-26)"

So once again....

Dear Kathy Fox and Robert Sumwalt,

Please stop your spare no expense ideas for general aviation which add little to overall safety and make it less and less affordable.

There is a dirty little secret in aviation, mostly general aviation that few talk about which is pilot competence. Poor skills due to infrequent flying or even making oneself more knowledgeable about flying and bad decision making/poor judgement. I suggest working on eliminating that and you will eliminate as much as 50% of the accidents.

An article below covers this topic...

https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all ... r-the-line

[AirFrame]

Same problem with avionics. Look at a home-built aircraft panel. Non certified avionics with huge screens, synthetic vision, the works. I bet that would have prevented some night CFIT or VFR into IMC accidents. A $10,000 non-certified panel is safer than the junk in most Cessnas, but probably costs about the same.

You don't have to bet, it's happened. A Lancair/Glasair owner, VFR on top of a thick cloud deck, suffered a total engine failure. He flew the video game down below the cloud deck and landed without incident... He was in the clouds for more than 10 minutes on descent... Never lost situational awareness, never lost control, ATC talked to him the whole way. He made course changes coming down as well. The system kept him advised of his gliding range, and he picked an airport rather early in the process that he could easily meet with reserve altitude. Broke out of the clouds only around 1000 AGL as I recall, and landed straight-in. He had a GoPro mounted on the rollbar and audio jacked in, the whole video was on YouTube when it happened.

Caveat: I think he had an autopilot as well, or at least a wing-leveller, that surely helped. Still, all of that in an Amateur-Built can be done for about $10K at time-of-build. Good luck getting a fully certified equivalent into a Cessna for twice that.

[TimothysAr]

Most of the guys I know have cot convex onto type after initial test flight on their aerie. I think you have to be the owner for this to apply?

[Cliff Jumper]

Good point, totally agree. I remember the first time i cot convex on type, and it wasn't even my aerie, it was someone else's.